Message from the LISD Board of Trustees Regarding Superintendent Search

Message from the LISD Board of Trustees Regarding Superintendent Search

Posted on 04/10/2018

Dear Lockhart ISD Staff and Parents,

Change in an organization is part of the natural course of its evolution, but that does not make it easy. The Board of Trustees is sensitive to the fact that many of you, staff and parents, naturally have questions after Superintendent Susan Bohn’s announcement of her pending departure and are concerned about the impact of this change and what the future holds.

As a school board, we want to assure you of our commitment to continue moving forward, working to secure a superintendent for the district to begin the new school year, and communicating with you throughout this transition.

Here is what you can expect:

The Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting Monday, April 16, to listen to presentations from superintendent search firms, hire a search firm, appoint an interim superintendent. Superintendent Bohn will continue to lead the district through the end of the current school year, transitioning leadership to the interim superintendent at some point during this summer.

Once we have hired the search firm, we will have a better understanding of a timeline and will share that with you through the district’s usual communication channels. Typically, a search for a superintendent can take anywhere between 3-6 months, but we are working as quickly as possible, and our priority is to have a new superintendent in place to lead at the start of the 2018-2019 school year.

The Board of Trustees fully supports the important work already underway by district administration, campus administration, teachers, and staff, and expects that work to continue. The expectation of excellence in the district was set into motion years ago when the Board of Trustees made a decision to prioritize teaching and learning in the district. We selected Dr. Bohn to transform the Board’s vision and expectations into action that benefited the children of Lockhart in measurable ways. While the superintendent is now leaving, the culture of high expectations will absolutely remain, something strongly tethered to the Board.

We will continue to hold staff accountable for helping our students achieve academic growth, and we will keep pushing for excellence in every aspect of the district’s operations. The district’s goals and vision of excellence remain the drivers for what we do every single day.

We are very confident in the district leadership’s continued commitment to prioritize what is best for children and to support our staff in providing the best learning experience for all of our Lions. While we are looking for the new “captain” of this ship, please know the ship has already set sail for higher expectations across the district, and we are going to ensure we find someone who will continue the course already set by the Board of Trustees and district leadership.

The Board of Trustees is poised to enter the superintendent search very well-prepared after being the first Board in the state to have completed the eXceptional Governance (XG) training. The XG program equips members to act confidently as a Board with a focus on improving student outcomes and on a process of continuous improvement. With this training and the strong foundation already in place in the district, the Board is committed to selecting a superintendent who will continue the good work underway and help lead us to even higher levels. Our children, staff, and community deserve it.

Many of us knew when we hired Dr. Bohn that our time together would not last forever. The average length of a superintendency is anywhere between 3 - 5 years, so her departure is not unusual, though it saddens many because of what she has contributed. The district is in a better place than it was when she came aboard. Additionally, the Board of Trustees is in a better place as a team, and we are working hard to select a new leader who will continue to serve the children of our community and take care of our amazing staff.

We will provide an update for you next week with the decisions made at the special meeting April 16. In the meantime, there is still much work to do this school year, and we remain focused on that, too.

On behalf of all of the Board, thank you for your continued support of our #LISDChampions.